WOW: Pesach Liberation

Charlotte Jewish News April 2022

By Andrea Gamlin

It always boggles my mind how quickly time flies between Purim and Pesach (Passover). As I reflect on childhood memories, I remember more about the tisch, or table, and the foods. For Purim, our seudah table always had a brightly colored tablecloth. There was meat and kreplach with different fillings and the best hamantaschen ever; we chose between “mun” or prune or apricot fillings. It was the only way my parents could get prunes in me. Yes, my mouth is watering as I write about it. I can’t believe I’d ever say that about prune anything. I would eat the hamantaschen so slowly because I wanted it to last until Pesach. Purim may be viewed by some as a holiday that includes drinking, but those foods and beautifully decorated table were my idea of heaven.

Even as a child, I felt the rush after Purim slide right into Pesach. I love bread (I’m the one who could eat the entire challah if left alone — but would never), so getting ready for Pesach as a child signaled the end of my leavened happiness. But focusing on the leavened loveliness that I couldn’t eat prevented me from feeling the liberation from leavened products’ grip. As an adult, I’ve changed. Instead of focusing on what I can’t have, I choose to concentrate on what I can have.

Pesach is our time to gather together and remember our exodus from Egyptian slavery. It can also be a time to reflect on our own versions of what has a hold on us. While it’s nothing compared with slavery, for me personally, leavened foods have a daily grip! Did I mention challah? On Pesach, I am liberated — free to eat other special foods! My mother’s matzah brei (oh, there goes my mouth watering again) is so very delicious, and I could eat our family’s charoset with horse radish at every meal for a week. For eight days each year, I get to enjoy delicious matzah pizza. There are plenty of delicious Pesach foods, and the seder table is always set beautifully. My adult version allows me to focus on that, freedom from, instead of missing, leavened sustenance.

Would you like to get some ideas for your Pesach table? This year, you’re on your own for family recipes, but W.O.W. can help with ideas for decorating your table. Join us for an evening of Pesach table decorating with June Hirschmann and learn how to use simple items to create a lovely atmosphere of freedom — freedom to be with family, freedom to be Jewish, and freedom to have a relationship with G-d at a beautiful s eder table!

For date and location, please check our website at www.CharlotteWomenOfWisdom.com and follow W.O.W. Inspiring, Empowering and Connecting Jewish Women on Facebook. We are a nondenominational group for Jewish women to engage, learn, and connect. No synagogue affiliation is necessary, just an interest to learn more about our beautiful heritage.